The Ultimate Betrayal
by CWRT2900
Summary: "Wo Fat! What do you want?" "You and me need to talk." "I've got nothing to say to you." "I have plenty to say to you. I'll be on you like the plague McGarrett until I get what I want. You."
1. Chapter 1

_**The season finale left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Not enough gut-twisting drama. As many would say: it was business as usual.**_

_**Well here's my idea of a heart-stopping season finale. If you guys like it I will be back with my season premiere episode in a few days.**_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Later that afternoon Steve and his team, including the newest member Lou Grover, returned to Five-0 Headquarters to partake in a small celebration in honour of Lou's instatement in the governor's task force. Denning hadn't been too keen to comply with McGarrett's request to hire the man, seeing how he never held him in the highest esteem but given Lieutenant Rollins's departure, he consented.

Kono ordered Chinese takeout and Steve provided the Longboards.

Hours later, they called it a day. Steve visited the little boys' room while the gang cleared the desk of dirty paper plates and empty bottles of beer.

As he neared the door of the men's room, his cell phone rang. Curious as to whom the caller might be at this hour, he glanced down at the caller ID that showed 'unknown'. With a slight frown he answered. "McGarrett!"

"Are you alone?" asked the menacing voice on the other end.

Steve's eyes shifted to his office before he pushed his way in. "I am. Who is this?"

"Awww I'm hurt that you don't remember me after all that we shared," the man taunted.

"Wo Fat! What do you want?"

"You and me need to talk."

"I've got nothing to say to you."

"I have plenty to say to you. You must know by now that there isn't a detention center in the world that can hold me. I'll be on you like the plague McGarrett until I get what I want. You."

"Ok let's end this cat-and-mouse game once and for all," Steve gnarled between his teeth. "Where and when?"

"I will tell you tonight. Be at home alone and don't let anyone in on our little conversation. Don't bother tracing that call. Remember, I'm a pro."

"All right." Steve ended the call and went to answer nature's call before rejoining the gang in his office.

"Say Steve, we were thinking of taking this celebration down to the Hilton, out on the terrace. We can indulge in a little partying since we have tomorrow off."

"Ah, gee, thanks Danny but I'm feeling a bit tired. I think I'll turn in early tonight. It's been quite an exciting day."

"Maybe you're right. We should all get a goodnight's rest," Kono suggested with a yawn.

Danny slanted his head to better read McGarrett's face. "You all right, babe?"

"Yeah, sure," he fibbed convincingly. "I'll see you guys Thursday. Enjoy your day off tomorrow!"

"We sure will," Chin said enthusiastically as he headed out the door with Kono.

Grover stepped up to Steve with an outstretched arm. "Again, I'm grateful to you all for welcoming me into the fold."

Steve clasped his hand and gave it a hearty shake. "I'm pleased that you've accepted."

Grover turned to Danny and nodded his thanks. "Detective, looking forward to working with you."

"Likewise I'm sure. "

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight Lou." Steve watched him leave with a wistful look on his face that bothered Danny.

"Steve, talk to me. What is it?"

"What are you talking about? I'm good, Danny. Go home. Get some sleep. We'll meet back here Thursday."

"All right." Danny relented but not fairly convinced that his partner was being honest with him. 'What could happen in twenty-four hours?' he wondered. His little voice however was telling him to be on the alert.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Steve was getting a glass of water in the kitchen when his cell rang. He quickly picked it up and read the caller ID 'unknown'. He closed his eyes and pushed out a breath before answering. "McGarrett!"

"You're alone?"

"Yeah just like you asked. Now where do you want to do this?"

"I'm sending you the coordinates in an encrypted e-mail right now. Be there tomorrow at five."

"Why this early?" he asked as he opened the e-mail.

"I don't want any unwanted visitor crashing in on our little party," he said sarcastically. "You Navy men like to get up early so I know it won't be a problem."

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Remember you are not to let your little friends in on this meeting. I would ask you to come unarmed but since I will be, it wouldn't fair of me to ask."

"I got the address. I'll meet you there tomorrow at five."

"And no funny business. I mean it or one word from me and my men will hurt your pretty little Lieutenant Rollins."

"Leave Catherine out of this!" Steve seethed.

"I will if you show up on time."

"I gave you my word."

"I'll take it."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Sleep eluded Steve that night and instead he got on his computer to gather as much information as he possibly could on the house that he was to meet Wo Fat in. He studied the structure and the surrounding area to locate any possible means of escape if push came to shove. He was to meet with his archenemy on his territory without backup. He would have to call on his Navy SEAL training to wrangle a way out of this one. Wo Fat was a slithering snake who had slipped through the top authorities' fingers and always managed to fall back on his two feet. He knew this was the final showdown in which one of them had to die.

Steve showed up at the lavish residence in a posh neighbourhood of Waikiki. He parked his car across the street and walked through the driveway up to the front door where he knocked.

"Come on in McGarrett," invited the voice from behind the door. Steve turned the knob and let himself in. "Close the door behind you." Once done Steve proceeded cautiously toward the living room where a disfigured Wo Fat stood stoically.

"Yours?" Steve teased, referring to the house.

"Don't I wish? The occupants are away on vacation so I took the liberty to borrow the premises for our little meeting. You are one punctual man I like that."

"Spare me the pleasantries, Wo Fat. Why did you ask me here?"

"You cut right to the chase."

"It's my day off and I want to enjoy it elsewhere."

"I want to make you a part of my organization."

Steve laughed. "That fire did a number on more than your face. It singed your brain as well. You're delirious."

"We are blood brothers, aren't we not?"

"I am NOT your brother." Steve was peeved at the insinuation.

"What about that blood sample you took? Didn't you have it analyzed?"

"I did. It was negative."

"I'm sorry to hear you were misled."

"I wasn't. Our own medical examiner Max Bergman did the analysis and I trust him implicitly."

"Dr. Bergman may not be responsible for tampering with the sample but your own partner might."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's highly probable that Danno," he emphasized to raise Steve's hackles, "might have done a switch."

"Why would he do that?"

"To hide the truth from you. He knows that if you found out that we were truly blood brothers that you'd never be able to live with yourself. In a way he was protecting you."

"That is a LIE!" Steve snarled. He whipped out his weapon from his holster and aimed it at Wo Fat's head. The man remained collected and broke into an evil grin.

"I guess I hit a nerve there," Wo Fat taunted as he fixed Steve right in the eyes, relishing the anger and fear he'd managed to instil. Slowly he turned around and walked away a few steps.

"Stay right where you are, Wo Fat or I swear I'll kill you."

"You wouldn't shoot a man in the back, now would you?"

"Don't tempt me," Steve hissed between clenched teeth as he steadied his gun on the back of his enemy's head.

Wo Fat broke into a sly grin and slowly turned around to face the barrel of McGarrett's gun.

"I'm offering you a partnership."

"You're coming with me and this time, there won't be any escaping."

"Then you'll have to kill me."

A muffled ringtone was heard, which momentarily distracted Steve, but provided a window of opportunity for Wo Fat to pull out his own gun and shoot point blank at Steve's chest.

The force of the impact hurled the SEAL backwards to the floor. He lay there with glazed eyes and gasping for breaths while Wo Fat stood over him aiming his gun at his head. He lowered his eyes to the chest wound oozing blood, grinning at the perfect aim through the heart. He then answered his ringing cell phone and answered. "Yeah. It's done."

He squatted down by the dying man and took a knife out of his pocket to slice the tip of his index finger. He pinched it to squeeze out a few droplets of blood before taking Steve's cell phone to call Danny.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Danny rolled over in bed and lazily reached for his cell on the night table. The name 'McGarrett" on the caller ID irked him. "McGarrett for God's sake, it's barely six in the morning. I thought you told us to take a day off today?"

"You will find what's left of your commander at the address I'm texting you, Detective."

Danny sprung up in bed. "Who is this? Hey! Hello? Hello?"

Without pressing 'end call', Wo Fat dropped the phone by McGarrett's body and casually left the premises without exhibiting the least bit of emotion for his agonizing 'brother' who had long since lost consciousness.

_**TBC  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**So I thought I could wrap up my season premiere episode in just one chapter; turns out I couldn't. There will be a part two and perhaps a part three.** _

Danny could hear footsteps on the other end. "Steve, can you hear me? Steve!" Danny shouted into his cell.

With a surprisingly steady hand, Danny dialed Chin's number on the other line. His anguish and heart rate increased with each ring unanswered. Finally a groggy voice spoke.

"Chin! It's me, Danny."

"Danny?" Puzzled, he glanced at the clock showing 5:47am. "It's early. What's wrong?"

"Just got a call from someone who didn't identify himself. Said that we could find Steve at the address he texted me."

"Find him, what do you mean?"

"He said what's left of the commander. Chin, I don't like this," Danny said chokingly.

"Ok, calm down. E-mail me the address and I'll get Kono, Lou and HPD over there."

"Ok," Danny steadied his cell and sent the coordinates to Chin.

"I got it. We'll meet you there."

Danny switched back to his other line and while he got ready to drive to the address he was given, he tried to rouse his partner and goaded him to come to the phone. "Steve? Come on, babe, if you're there, pick up. Come on!" Silence was his only answer. "You hold on, we're coming."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Danny broke every speed limits getting to the place. When he arrived, police squad cars, an ambulance and Chin's motorcycle had already converged to the scene of the crime.

Barely had he turned off the ignition that he jumped out of his car and dashed to the main entrance. He quickly flashed his badge to the two officers guarding the premises before he made his way inside.

His heart sank at the macabre scene before him. Steve was lying motionless in a pool of blood. His face was pasty white and his lips an odd shade of blue. Three paramedic were busy trying to breathe life into him. One performed CPR while the other pushed in oxygen with an Ambu bag, while the third one held the IV bag and checked for any sign of life on the heart monitor.

"Danny," Chin put a hand on his shoulder.

"My God, Chin, is he..."

"Kono and I arrived here about five minutes ago and they were performing CPR on him. He was shot in the chest. Could be in the heart, reason why they're having trouble reviving him."

"Detective," Lou's gruff voice called as he walked up to Danny. "We checked the premises. The house belongs to a couple named Michael and Sara Peterson. That name sounded familiar so I had it checked out. Mike Peterson once lived in my neighborhood and he was charged with drug possession but was later cleared of all charges when the evidence didn't hold up in court."

"I doubt a drug dealer could have done this. Here." Danny handed his cell to Grover. "The message he left me was recorded. See if you can get a voice print."

Danny turned his attention back to Steve. The paramedic shocked him once last time with no response. "Okay let's load him in the ambulance. They can DOA him at the hospital."

"No!" Danny shouted frantically, stepping in front. "I'm going with you."

"Sorry. It's going to be crowded in there."

"I don't want you to give up on him."

"We're not. We will continue to perform chest compressions until we get to the hospital."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

It was hours later when the surgeon pushed his way out of the operating room. He made his way to the nurses' station to enquire about McGarrett's medical proxy. She pointed to Danny, Kono and Chin in the nearby waiting room. He nodded his thanks and made his way to the distraught trio.

"Detective Williams?"

All three sprung up from their seats and gathered around the doctor.

"That's me."

"You are listed as Commander McGarrett's emergency contact."

"That's right. These are officers from Five-0. Anything you tell me you can say to them."

"Please, sit down."

Danny took his seat without peeling his stare from the doctor's face. "He's alive, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is."

All three heaved a collective sigh of relief with Danny burying his head in his hands.

"We were able to shock his heart back but we had trouble keeping the rate in the safe zone." He paused briefly before continuing, "The bullet entered the heart."

Loud gasps echoed through the room.

"However it was lodged in the myocardium, one of the thick membranes surrounding the heart. It was plucking the hole and limited the damage, hence the reason why he was able to survive. Had it gone through the heart, he would have died on impact."

"I read that some people manage to live full lives with a bullet lodged in their heart," Kono claimed.

"True. With time the object becomes encapsulated and can be carried for life with the patient remaining hemodynamically stable and virtually asymptomatic, but in Commander McGarrett's case we didn't want to take any chances. We did a cardiopulmonary by-pass and removed the bullet."

"How come it didn't go through the heart?" Danny asked. "I mean don't get me wrong I'm relieved it didn't, but he wasn't wearing vest or anything."

"Several factors can play a role, one being that in all likelihood he was shot at long range and the fact that the bullet nicked a rib and cracked it, it considerably slowed its momentum."

"OK so what now? Is he going to be all right?"

"Right now he's resting in a critical but stable condition in ICU. Our main concern is a cardiac tamponade, which is blood filling between the sac that encases the heart and the heart muscle, thus creating pressure on the heart, resulting in not enough blood pumping to the rest of the body. That could lead to organ failure, shock and of course, death.

Danny's eyes dropped like lead at the last word that his mind had been dreading since finding his partner lifeless on the floor.

"Can we see him?"

"Just one visitor per five minutes."

"Danny, you go," Chin suggested with a pat on the blond's shoulder. "Kono and I will wait here."

"Get in touch with Lou. Perhaps he found a voice match. I want to get the bastard who did this to him."

Chin nodded. "We will. Go be with Steve."

Danny followed the doctor to Steve's room where his steps slightly faltered at the sight of his partner lying deathly still, with a thick bandage over his sternum and a tracheal tube in his mouth.

He sat down by Steve's bed and gently took his hand in his. "I'm going to find that sonuvabitch. I swear he's going to pay for what he did to you." He squeezed the hand tighter and leaned closer. "You hold on now, you hear? Don't let him win."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

In early afternoon, back at Five-0 Headquarters...

"What?" Chin exclaimed in shock at the news. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, 'cuz. The voice is Wo Fat's," Kono confirmed. "Matches the same voice we recovered on Steve's phone. He had two calls. One around the time we were at the office yesterday and later that night. And Charlie said the fingerprints collected at the house were Wo Fat's."

"No doubt about it now, he's our man."

"I hear this Wo Fat guy has been after McGarrett for years?"

"Yes Lou. He was involved in Steve's father's murder and he's been tracking him ever since. He caught him a few times but the snake always manages to escape."

"How come McGarrett went to meet him without backup?"

Kono and Chin exchanged knowing looks. "Knowing Steve he didn't want anyone involved in case it got ugly, which is often the case when those two meet. It's a personal vendetta," Chin explained.

"So how do we go about finding him this time?" Kono asked.

"Maybe Samantha can help," Chin suggested.

"I don't want to involve my daughter in this," Lou protested. "She's been through enough."

"But Wo Fat did save her life. Maybe he said something to her that might help us track his whereabouts."

"I think she told us everything."

"Lou I understand your concern, believe me, but Steve's life's at stake here. Once Wo Fat gets word that McGarrett's not dead, he'll come back and try to finish the job. We need all the help we can get," Chin stressed.

In a long-drawn out sigh, Grover agreed. "All right. You can talk to her after school."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Later that afternoon Kono and Chin dropped by the Medical Examiner's office to get the results on the blood found at the crime scene.

"Max, what have you got?"

"Something highly disturbing, people."

Kono and Chin exchanged quizzical looks.

"What do you mean?" Chin probed.

"Two distinct blood types were recovered at the scene of the crime. One belongs to the Commander and the other," he paused to stare them both in the eyes, "matches a blood relative's."

"What are saying, like a mother, brother, cousin?"

"A direct lineage, yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I did a DNA profiling of the blood smeared on the commander's cell phone."

"Whoever it was obviously wanted us to identify him or else he would have used gloves," Kono surmised.

"Question remains as to whether it belonged to the same person who did the shooting." Chin wondered. "Were you able to match it to a single individual?"

"Yes I did. The blood is Wo Fat's." Max answered straightforwardly.

"That's impossible! You once did an analysis of his and Steve's blood and found no match," Kono argued.

"Indeed I didn't. I took the commander's word that it was Wo Fat's blood on the sample he gave me so I didn't check the database for the actual blood type unlike I did for this analysis."

"Steve wouldn't have brought you anything else but the real deal."

"Yes but it's possible someone tampered with the original sample, which was not the case in this investigation."

"Steve gave it to you personally to have analyzed." She saw Max shifted uncomfortably and had to ask. "What?"

"I momentarily left it unattended. I had an urgent case for which I needed to produce results quickly, so I put the sample on ice while I focused on finishing the work."

"Well who could have had access to it? Better yet who knew where to look for it?" Chin asked.

Max shrugged. "All I can say now is that Steve McGarrett and Wo Fat are brothers."

"This certainly puts a different spin on the investigation and more to the point, what do we tell Steve when he wakes up?" Kono wondered.

"Let's just keep this under our hats for now," Chin suggested, getting concerned frowns from both Kono and Max. "I know we'll need to tell him eventually but for now let's just concentrate on finding Wo Fat before he gets to Steve."

"His hospital room is heavily guarded."

Chin snorted. "That's not going to stop him. We'll need to check the medical personnel credentials and backgrounds, make sure they are on the level. Wo Fat has been known to corrupt even the best of them. "

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Danny kept a faithful vigil on his partner throughout the night. The nurses were in and out to check the vitals and adjust the IV. Overall the patient slept without any major incident.

Next morning, Steve's eyelids flickered weakly before falling still again. Once more he tried to pry open his bleary eyes but to no avail. Stubbornness took over and this time, Steve was able to keep them open, albeit at half-mast. They roamed the room before finally settling on the sleeping form slumped over in a chair by the bed. They widened in horror and his heart rate increased, sounding an alarm on the cardiac monitor.

Danny startled awake at the sound and jumped to his feet. "Steve, hold on. I'll get the doctor." Danny dashed out the room and was met with two nurses that had already been alerted at their station. The attending doctor followed soon after.

A nervous Danny remained aside to leave room for the medical personnel to work at stabilizing the patient.

Once the crisis over and Steve's heart rate returned to normal, the doctor gingerly removed the tracheal tube from the patient's throat, which triggered a coughing reflex that soon passed.

"Now breathe slowly," he coached and waited for his patient's breathing to settle before checking his lungs with his stethoscope.

"Ok Commander, do you feel up to answering a few questions?"

Steve nodded weakly.

"Do you know your name?"

"Sttt...Stttteve McG..." he stuttered in a ghostly whisper.

"Steve McGarrett?" the doctor finished, to which Steve answered with a nod.

"Do you know where you are?"

Steve's eyes once again wandered around the room. "Hos...hospital."

"That's right. Do you feel any pain?" The patient slowly lifted his hand up and touched his chest. "Chest?" Steve nodded. "You had surgery to remove a bullet lodged in your heart." Steve frowned. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Sh...shot."

"That's right. You were lucky your team found you when they did. Another few minutes and we wouldn't be having this conversation." Steve licked his lips and swallowed dryly. "Want some water?" Steve nodded weakly.

"Can I, doctor?" Danny asked as he stepped forward in Steve's line of view.

Danny took the handkerchief with the crushed ice and leaned in to apply it to Steve's lips. "Hey partner, you had us all sc..." Steve jerked his head aside. "What's the matter? Steve, what's wrong? It's just chipped ice."

"Gettttt out!"

Danny was taken aback by Steve's reaction. "What?"

"Ouuuut. Don'ttt commmme neeeear me."


	3. Chapter 3

_"Gettttt out!"_

_Danny was taken aback by Steve's reaction. "What?"_

_"Ouuuut. Don'ttt commmme neeeear me."_

When Danny insisted, Steve tried to push him away, which sent his heart rate through the roof.

"I'm sorry Detective, you're going to have to leave," the doctor advised while slightly nudging him aside.

Danny obliged and left the room. Disturbed by his partner's reaction, he sat in the hallway, bewildered.

Moments later, the doctor exited the room and stepped up to him. "You're wondering what happened in there?"

"What's wrong with him? Why did he cast me out like that?"

"I asked him. All he said was that you betrayed his trust."

"What? That's ridiculous?" Danny was beside himself. "Did he say how?"

"I didn't ask. Understand that in his weak state, he isn't in full command of his emotions. Perhaps it's a misunderstanding..."

"You bet it is!" Danny quickly interjected, offended.

"Anyhow I'm only repeating what he told me. Look, I don't know what happened between you both and clearly this is none of my business, but until his condition improves I'm going to ask that you do not upset him."

"So I'm not welcomed in his room anymore, is that it?" Danny asked curtly.

"For the time being."

Danny was flabbergasted. Tears brimmed over in his eyes as he tried to sort out what had transpired between he and Steve in the last twenty-four hours to give him the brush-off."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

A bit later, Chin and Kono arrived at the hospital and headed straight for Steve's room, expecting to find Danny.

"Where's Danny?" Kono asked a bit baffled.

"Must have stepped out to stretch his legs. Look, the tube's out. That means he must be doing better."

"He's pinking up," Kono remarked cheerily.

"Hello!" The doctor greeted as he entered the room to check on his patient.

"Doctor, he seems to be doing better?" Chin observed.

"He is. However we're still concerned about his heart rate. It still hasn't picked up a normal steady beat, but his blood pressure is up and there's no sign of infection."

"That's good," Kono exhaled with relief. "What happened to Detective Williams?"

"He was asked to leave the room."

Kono and Chin shared puzzled looks. "Why?"

"Commander McGarrett woke up and became agitated in his presence. You'll understand that stressful situations are to be avoided in his present condition. Therefore I requested Detective Williams to leave."

"Where is he now?" Chin asked.

"I saw him in the garden a while ago."

"Thank you."

The two cousins proceeded outside on the terrace and scanned the grounds for any sign of Danny.

"There he is!" Kono pointed to the blond sitting at a picnic table.

"Danny?" Chin called out.

Danny turned and flashed a half-hearted smile. "Hey! Have you been to see Steve?"

"We have and the doctor told us that you were asked to leave?" Kono asked, bemused.

"Yeah. I've been sitting here for the past hour racking my brains as to what I did to deserve Steve's wrath. You should have seen him, guys. His eyes were livid. He hated me and for the life of me I can't understand why?"

"He didn't say anything?" Chin asked.

"Not right off the bat. Later the doctor said that he told him that I'd betrayed his trust," Danny said dejectedly.

"There has to be an explanation. Did you tell him about Wo Fat?"

"Dear Lord, no!"

"Why would he think you betrayed him?" Kono pondered, getting a shrug from Danny.

"We'll need to ask him," Chin stated.

"If you upset him, the doctor will ask you to leave just as he did me."

"We'll be careful," Chin said, looking at Kono who nodded in agreement.

"I'll...I'll go back to headquarters and see if Grover made any progress in locating Wo Fat. You keep in touch?"

"Of course we will. We'll get to the bottom of this, don't you worry," Kono reassured with a friendly hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Good luck!"

The two cousins watched their grieving friend walk his way back to the parking lot.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Sometime later, Steve moaned his way back to consciousness. Chin and Kono stood from their chairs to hover over the bed, waiting for the patient to fully acknowledge their presence.

"Hey boss, welcome back," Kono greeted with a beaming smile.

"Steve, you okay, brah?" Steve nodded weakly and licked his lips. "Hold on, I'll get you some water." He applied the handkerchief with the crushed ice to his lips.

"Danny?"

"He's not here."

"Good."

"Steve, what happened between you two? Why won't you see him?" Chin probed.

"I heard he tampered with the blood sample I brought Max to analyse."

"The one that confirmed you were not brothers with Wo Fat?" Steve nodded. "Why in Heaven's sake would you think that?"

"That bastard's my brother, is he not?" The question gave the cousins pause. "So it's true."

"Who told you?"

"Who else? Baby brother himself," Steve said sarcastically. "He said that my partner switched the sample so I wouldn't know the truth."

"And you believed him!" Kono was shocked.

Equally stunned, Chin piped in, "Have you heard Danny's side of the story?" Steve shifted in bed and looked away. "Steve, wait to hear Danny's own version before you brand him. That's so unlike you to take Wo Fat's word over your own partner's. Danny is your friend, your soul brother. Don't shut him out like that. He's devastated that you shoved him aside like you did. Steve, please, talk to him."

"Leave me alone. I'm tired." Steve whispered weakly, closed his eyes and shut himself out.

"You'll talk to him, whether you want it or not!" Kono lashed out in a fit of fury, taking both men by surprise.

"Kono, I..." Steve started to protest.

"NO! I can't believe you, Steve!" I will not have you both at odds like that. We'll lock you up in a room if we have to but you WILL TALK!" she continued her tirade with dark seething eyes. "Got that?"

Steve remained mute with his eyes slowly filling up with tears. Kono was right. What was he thinking snubbing Danny of the sort? Granted the legitimacy of his kinship with Wo Fat had hit hard and tore at his heart worse than the bullet did, but Danny? Could he really have done the switch to shield him from the truth?

"We'll be back with Danny later. Come on, Chin." Kono beckoned her cousin out of the room to leave the boss to reflect on his senseless attitude.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

It was some twenty-four hours later when Danny showed up at Steve's door. He loomed under the doorway for a brief moment, waiting for his friend to acknowledge his presence.

"Danny."

"Can I come in?" Steve nodded shamefully. He winced at the sudden sharp twinge in his chest.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah."

Danny moved closer to the bed and neither spoke for the longest time before they chorused, "I'm sorry."

"Danny, don't be silly. You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I just thought it was easier to try to make things right 'cause I sure hate what's happening between us." He stood next to the bed and stared Steve in the face. "Kono and Chin filled me in on why you hated the sight of me. I think if I were you I'd feel the same."

Steve turned to him with a deep frown. "What are you saying?"

Danny drew in a deep breath. "I didn't do what you're or rather Wo Fat is accusing me of doing. I could never deceive you like this, Steve. Truth be told I loathed the thought of you being related to this animal, but I never would have tampered with the blood sample for the purpose of skewing the results. Most importantly I didn't know where Max had them stored."

"Then who did?"

Pause.

"It was me," came the confession from the visitor standing by the door.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you all for sticking to my story till the end. I usually write one-shots which are easier. This was a daring journey into an unknown territory and I admit it was a bit scary. Thank you for your fav/fol and reviews. They kept me going.**_

"Mom?" Steve said, visibly shaken by the unexpected visitor.

Doris turned to Danny. "Daniel, would you leave us alone for a minute?"

Danny nodded and started to cross to the door when Steve stopped him.

"NO! You stay here Danny."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Then to Doris. "Anything you have to say you can say in front of him."

"Very well." She walked up to the bed and gave her son an apologetic smile.

"When did you get here?" Steve asked icily.

"About an hour ago. I was in O'ahu when Joe called me."

Steve frowned. "Joe?"

"Yes, Danny called him to let him know what was going on." She reached a hand to her son's cheek but he quickly swatted it away, much to her surprise.

"Start talking, Doris. And this time I want the truth, that is if you're capable of it. Is Wo Fat my brother?" Although he already knew the answer to that question but he nevertheless wanted to hear it from his own mother's mouth.

She gulped in a deep breath and confessed, "Yes, he is."

Steve's heart sank at the news. "Why?" he whimpered. "Why didn't you tell me this the first time I asked."

She shook her head dolefully and sniffed back an errant tear. "I know I should have but I didn't want you to hate me after all these years. Coming back into your life after twenty years of thinking I was dead was hard enough for you and for me, that I didn't want to make it more painful."

"Well you're wrong." Pause. "I tried, Doris, I really tried to be supportive but this...this is just too much."

"I'm sorry, Steven."

"I don't believe you anymore and I may never again. Here I was accusing my best friend," he turned to Danny with sorrowful eyes, "the man I consider like a brother and my own mother is the one who betrays me." He closed his eyes and with a choking hiccup, said solemnly, "Please leave and never come back."

"Surely you don't mean that, Steven."

"I do. You should never have returned in the first place. I was better off knowing you were dead. Please...leave."

"Steven, we need to talk about this," she insisted.

Steve shook his head. "You've had your chance. Now stay out of my life for good."

She wavered whether to reach out one last time to her son but held back. Instead she hung her head and with a deep woeful sigh, she turned to the door, casting one last apologetic look at Danny who held the eye-lock with some disdain.

Once Doris was out of the room, Danny stepped up to the bed. He paused to give his friend a moment to grieve. "You all right?"

"I will be," Steve sniffed. "I'm so sorry, Danny. I never should have doubted you."

"Hey it's ok as long as we're good."

Steve held his hand out for Danny to clasp it. "Yeah, we're good."

"Now you get some rest. We need you back on the field to catch that bastard once and for all."

"And Danny...Wo Fat may be a brother by blood but you're brother by soul. I'm lucky to have met you and to have you as a partner and friend."

"Same here, babe. Same here." Danny folded his other hand on top of their brofist. His smile suddenly turned to a deep frown at the sight of Steve's face contorting in pain. "What's the matter?"

"Chest. Can't breathe."

"Hold on!" Danny pressed the alarm button by the bed, His head snapped up at the heart monitor when it started blaring. "Slow deep breaths, now. Come on, easy, easy," he coached calmly, though inwardly he was a nervous wreck.

"What's the matter?" queried the doctor as he rushed into the room.

"He says...he says he can't breathe," Danny informed worriedly.

"Commander, can you hear me?" The doctor asked, snapping his fingers to get Steve's attention.

Steve nodded as he struggled to draw breaths.

The doctor applied his stethoscope to the patient's chest as he continued to shoot questions."Does your chest hurt?"

Steve shook his head. "No. Pressure."

The doctor adjusted an oxygen mask over his nose. "Okay now. Listen to me now, concentrate on my voice." He waited for Steve to acknowledge him before continuing. "Breathe in and out slowly. Focus now. In and out, slowly."

Steve did as instructed with the mask fogging up with each exhale.

"That's it, you're doing fine. Keep it up." He turned to Danny. "Stay with him. Keep him calm and make sure he continues breathing slowly."

"Where are you going?"

"I'll arrange to take him down to X-Ray to ensure we're not dealing with a cardiac tamponade."

Danny bit his upper lip in fright and turned back to Steve.

"Danny," Steve whispered through the mask as he held a hand up.

Danny clasped the hand and squeezed it tight. "Take it easy. Ease down your breathing."

"I love you brother," Steve cried with a hunted look in his eyes that chilled Danny to the bones.

"Love you too." He leaned forward and gripped Steve's shoulder. "Hold on now," he urged when he noticed that Steve was about to forfeit the fight. "You're not going anywhere. You hear me?"

Steve's bleary eyes remained at half-mast while a ghostly smile crossed his lips.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Minutes later, Doris was at the nurses' station fishing for information on her son's condition when out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steve being wheeled out on a gurney, an oxygen mask on his face, with Danny walking alongside.

Concerned, she trotted all the way to the emergency entrance door, where Danny was asked to wait outside.

"Danny? What's going on? Is Steve okay?"

Distraught, Danny ran a hand over his flushed face and spoke chokingly. "Just after you left he started having trouble breathing. The doctor's taking him down for a chest X-Ray."

A look of pure anguish crossed her face. "It's all my fault. He's right; I never should have come back. He would have been better off knowing I was dead."

"Listen, I'm not one to judge," Danny began softly. "Obviously you did what you had to do. It was hard on him and it took a while to accept you back in his life again. This thing with Wo Fat is another bolt out of the blue that threw him for a loop. He might never accept that truth but I'm sure he'll ultimately come to deal with it. He's a tough badass who always lands on his feet. He didn't mean what he said just like he didn't when he threw me out of the room believing I had switched the blood samples."

"I'm glad you called Joe to set the matter straight. If anyone, he should be angry at me."

"Stick close by. I have a hunch he'll need you."

She smiled and laid a hand on Danny's arm. "Thank you Danny. You're a good friend."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

It was some time later when the doctor brought the good news. Steve had only suffered an acute anxiety attack as a result of the latest bombshell to befall on him. The heart was fine and if his condition were to improve, he would be discharged from the hospital within forty-eight hours.

After parting ways with Danny who remained behind to sit with Steve, Doris headed out and toward the parking lot where she sat in the passenger seat of tinted-window van. Pause as she sighed heavily and waited for the driver to speak.

"He knows?" Wo Fat asked.

"Yes, he knows." She turned to him with a glare. "We've done enough harm. I beg of you; leave him alone."

"That all depends on him. His knowledge that we're brothers is a fate worse than death," he crowed with an evil smirk.

**The end?**


End file.
